Nesarian Language
Nesarian Language See also: Nesarian Names Nesarian is an Elvic language spoken in Nesaria, and it used as a lingua franca for the other countries within the Empire (teaching at least basic Nesarian as a second language is mandatory throughout the Empire). Until the advent of the printing press, Nesarian was written in an extremely complicated system of runes that few could understand. The latin alphabet was found to work well with the language and fitted in much better with the printing press, and the latin alphabet eventually supplanted Nesarian Runes by 1500 - today less than 0.1% of the population of Nesaria is fluent in Nesarian Runes. Nesarian sounds are conflicting and follow few rules given how many different languages it was historically influenced by. Attempts to standardise it (which coincided with the adoption of the latin alphabet) made the grammar and suffixes far more simple, but the sounds were left unchanged as it was deemed too difficult and a waste of state resources to teach the entire population different sounds for the same words. As literacy increased, words (which can become quite long in Nesarian) were often dramatically shortened, but a campaign in the late 1700s restored traditional spellings. This was not enough to stop many words "collapsing" into shortened or more easily pronounceable forms, as the great number of syllables made many words awkward to say. The new words that this created often failed to follow the syllable (and sometimes grammatical) words of the language, but the changes at that point were irreversible. One of the major changes was that most consonants on the end of nouns were dropped to make adding suffixes easier. This new form of the language was standardised (for good) in the late 1800s, becoming Modern Nesarian. Nesarian grammar is essentially identical to English grammar, making it a popular second language in the Anglophone world. English is also a common second or third language within the Nesarian Empire. Due to the historical influence of the Nesarian Empire, Nesarian is also commonly learned as a second or third language in the ex-Empire states as well as Greece and Russia. Nesarian words often have alternating vowels and consonants which tends to create many syllables, and as such pronouncing it and speaking it fluently in conversation is often difficult and awkward for foreigners. The large number of syllables with differing sounds means that most Nesarian speakers have trained themselves to speak very quickly. Pronunciation Several letters are pronounced differently to how they are normally pronounced in English or other languages that use the latin script. The pronunciation varies slightly based on regional accents, but listed below is the "Standard Capitalian" pronunciation. * The letter "c" is pronounced as a hard "k". * The letter "q" is pronounced as a hard "k". * The letter "i" is pronounced as a long "ee". * The letter "t" is pronounced as a hard "t" regardless of the letters around it. * The letter "g" is pronounced as a hard "g". * The letter "u" is pronounced as a long "oo". * The rare letter "é" is pronounced "ay". * The combination "ér" is pronounced "air". * The combination "eo" is pronounced "ayo". * The combination "ae" is pronounced "ai" or "aye". * The combination "ea" is pronounced "aya" or "aea". * The combination "sz" is pronounced "zh" (as in the "s" in "pleasure"). * The combination "ire" is pronounced "ee-ray" at the end of a word and "ee-reh" anywhere else. * The combination "es" is pronounced "ez" if it is at the end of a word, but "es" anywhere else. Q The letter Q is included in Nesarian, despite the fact that it is pronounced identically to C (both make a hard "k" sound). This is because, when the language transitioned from Nesarian Runes to the latin alphabet, Q was pronounced differently. It is pronounced in the other Elvic languages (and used to be pronounced in Nesarian) as a voiceless velar fricative, or "X" on the IPA chart. This is the noise the "ch" makes in the Scottish word "loch". It retains its old pronunciation in the other Elvic languages, but in Nesarian it changed and became a harder and shorter noise over time until it matched C by the turn of the 20th century. There have been calls to remove the Q from the Nesarian alphabet, however changing the alphabet and re-educating the population on the words that use the Q is usually deemed more trouble than it is worth, and some minority Nesarian dialects still retain the old pronunciation of Q. Suffixes Here is a list of all the suffixes that can modify the meaning of a word in Nesarian. The second suffix will be the version of the suffix that you add if the word ends in a vowel or a soft consonant such as "r". * "Eo" / "Teo" makes a singular noun into a plural noun. "River" ("Sacalifae") becomes "Rivers" ("Sacalifaeteo"). * "Eros" / "Teros" makes a noun into an adjective. "Death" ("Cavac") becomes "Dead" ("Cavaceros"). If a word ends in "o" then it is removed before adding this suffix. * "Ovos" / "Vos" makes a noun into a verb. "Colony" ("Cratae") becomes "Colonise" ("Crataevos"). When added to a word that ends in "os", the ending turns from "os" into "ovos". * "Ovis" / "Vis" makes a noun into an adverb. "Weakness" ("Pixas") becomes "Weakly" ("Pixavis"). When added to a word that ends in "os", the ending turns from "os" into "ovis". * "Ca" makes an adjective into a comparative adjective. This is added onto the "teros" that turns a word into an adjective. "Sweet" ("Camoteros") becomes "Sweeter" ("Camoterosca"). In informal writing the full form is often shortened to "Ersca" / "Trsca". * "Ci" makes an adjective into a superlative adjective. This is added onto the "teros" that turns a word into an adjective. "Sweet" ("Camoteros") becomes "Sweetest" ("Camoterosci"). In informal writing the full form is often shortened to "Ersci" / "Trsci". * "Unus" / "Nus" makes a number into an adjective. "One" ("Asc") becomes "First" ("Ascunus"). * "Us" / "Tus" makes a present tense word into a past tense word. "Stop" ("Cavanovos") becomes "Stopped" ("Cavanovosus"). * "Osa" / "Tosa" makes a present tense word into a future tense word. When making a verb into its future tense form, you simply add an "a" to the "vos" suffix. "Stop" ("Cavanovos") becomes "Will Stop" ("Cavanovosa"). * "Ivus" / "Tivus" makes a present tense word into a present participle word. Note that if a verb is being turnde into its present participle form, you drop the verb suffix ("Ovos" / "Vos"), so "Hiking" ("Dranoxivus") comes from the noun "Hiker" ("Dranox") and not the verb "Hike" ("Dranoxovos"). * "An" makes a place name into a demonym. The "An" becomes "N" if the word already ends in an "a". "Germany" ("Daevutos") becomes "German" ("Daevutosan"). * "Etes" / "Tes" turns a noun into its possessive form. If you wanted to say that something belongs to Rotis, in English you would say it is Rotis', and in Nesarian you would say it is "Rotisetes". If you wanted to say that an animal was wagging its tail, in Nesarian you would say it is wagging "etes" tail. "It" does not follow the normal rule - it is simply "etes" rather than "etetes". Some words do not follow these rules, for example the word "Holy", which is "Ticae". According to the suffix rules it should be "Ticaeteros" or something similar because it is an adjective, but this word does not follow the suffix rules. This is left over from a version of Nesarian which had more complex grammatical cases. Another example is "Use", which is the same in its noun and verb forms ("Jovos"). Note that past participles do not exist in Nesarian. To turn a verb into a past participle, you simply use the past tense version of the verb. Ordering of Suffixes The order that the suffixes should go in is one of the tricker parts of Nesarian, and often confuses foreign speakers. Here is the order that the suffixes go in - skip over any that do not apply. # "Ovos" / "Vos" - Verb # "Ovis" / "Vis" - Adverb # "Oteros" / "Teros" - Adjective # "Ca" - Comparative Adjective # "Ci" - Superlative Adjective # "Ivitus" / "Tivitus" - Present Participle (Adding this to a verb removes the verb suffix) # "Us" / "Tus" - Past Tense # "Osa" / "Tosa" - Future Tense # "Eo" / "Teo" - Plural # "Etes" / "Tes" - Possessive # "An" / "N" - Demonym A good example of this is "buttered". # Noun "butter" - Cracos # Turn noun into verb "butter" - "Cracovos" (word ending in "os" becomes "ovos" if turned into a verb) # Turn verb into past tense "buttered" - "Cracovosus" Traditions Idioms * "Yacetripas vi evex" - "Son of light" - This phrase used to be literal, meaning a paragon of virtue, however in about the 15th century its meaning became sarcastic, and it now refers to someone with few redeeming qualities who indulges in degenerate and amoral behaviour. For example, drug dealers could be referred to as "yacetripaseo vi evex", or "sons of light". * "Itaevocus itoc blaszon" - "Born in purple" - Used to describe someone who has been spoilt from birth and who is arrogant and childish as a result. Purple used to be a very rare and extremely expensive dye, only available to the very rich, so someone “born in purple” is someone born to extreme wealth, and such people are typically spoilt by their parents. The equivalent phrase in English would be “born with a silver spoon in his/her mouth”, although the Nesarian phrase “born in purple” is used more specifically to refer to someone who has a bad character as a result of being spoilt, whereas the English phrase just refers to a spoilt rich person. * "Fitasus itoc ino vanat" - "Lost in the sauce" - Used to describe something that has been lost as a result of other information being piled on top of it. The phrase originated from the idea that the flavour of a food could be lost by drowning it in sauce, and that the flavour of the sauce overpowers the flavour of the food. A similar English idiom would be “a needle in a haystack”. If something has been “lost in the sauce”, then it has become the needle in the haystack. * "Critovae eno cracovosus" - "Everything is buttered" - Used to describe a situation where everything is running efficiently and smoothly and where there are no problems to slow things down. This comes from the idea that a buttered object becomes smooth and slippery. Proverbs * "Iotun vutos eno camala, tan qae qara vutos eno latire camoterosca" - "This land is honey, but my own land is even sweeter" - Fairly self-explanatory, used to describe a place that you really love but is not as great as home. Common Phrases * "Ceo Marati!" - "Hail Victory!" - A common phrase which fell out of use in the 9th century and was revived in the late 18th century, and especially emphasised during the reign of Emperor Adrion I. It is similar to the German phrase “Sieg Heil!". Its meaning is not unlike saying “good luck”; a declaration of hope for victory, both for yourself and to the person/people you are saying it to. In the armed forces, this usually refers to military victory (it also used to refer solely to military victory before the rebirth of the phrase in the 18th century), but in other situations, “victory” refers to generally being successful. It is commonly said at the end of speeches and formal meetings, and members of the armed forces say it whenever they salute, apart from in sombre occasions where silence is appropriate, such as funerals or Peace Day. The phrase is rarely said in informal situations. It was historically used as a battle-cry. * "Ceo ino Regatux!" - "Hail the Emperor!" - Used in military circles in conjunction with "Ceo Marati" (a phrase that is often said is "Ceo Marati, Ceo io Regatux!", meaning "Hail Victory, Hail the Emperor!"), and typically by the crowd when the Emperor gives a public speech. It is also mandatory to say this when saluting the Emperor. It is commonly used as a battle-cry. * "Cronteros Yaconeo" - "Noble Men" - Not to be confused with noblemen, this phrase is used in formal situations - normally speeches - when speaking to large groups of people. Although the literal translation is “noble men”, it can be just as easily used when talking to a mixed gender group, or a group made up entirely of women, because in Nesarian, “man" can mean "person" depending on the context. The literal translation is “noble men”, but a more understandable translation is “noble ones”. This is said to a large group of people you are speaking respectfully to - not necessarily superiors. If a politician does not refer to his audience as “cronteros yaconeo” in a speech then this will usually end his career. It implies that he does not treat the audience with respect, and by extension does not treat the people with respect. * "Ceo Retux Isus Crist, yacas vi Astacar!" - "Hail King Jesus Christ, son of God!" - A traditional greeting used by Nesarian Christians that was historically used to identify each other. It is still often said at gatherings of Christians. Note that in Nesarian, the title of "King Jesus Christ" is the equivalent of "Christ the King". Vulgarisms The Nesarian language has a variety of slurs and insults, which are often long due to the fact that they are numerous words compounded together. This section has colourful language. * "Yacristela" - A shortened form of "Yacisocristela" which is a shortened form of "Yacon icos sesovos Cristetes ela" which translates to "One who sucks Christ's dick" (note that "yacon", which translates to man, can also be used as a gender neutral term, i.e. "one"). Unsurprisingly, this is a slur aimed at Christian people. * "Szicist" - Translates to "black beast" which is a slur for black people. It is important to note that historically, since the Nesarian Empire had no African population and a tiny community of African migrants, there was little prejudice against black people and the term "szicist" was/is usually applied jokingly, as lighthearted banter. It is sometimes described as the Nesarian equivalent of "nigger" but "szicist" does not have the same historical connotations and is usually not found terribly offensive by Africans since the word was likely made as a joke in the first place. A small detachment of African and African-American soldiers during WW2 was ironically nicknamed the "Szicisteo", a name the soldiers chose themselves, as it was thought the name would intimidate the (American) enemy. * "Szelena" - Translates to "sand dweller" which is a slur for Arabs. It can also be loosely applied to anyone who lives in the Middle East, especially Arabia. * "Centeres" - Translates to "green skin" which is a slur for Orcs. * "Drayacos" - Roughly translates to "faggot". As well as being a slur for homosexuals, this can also be applied to male Elves because of their feminine appearance.